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  Magna Graecia: Greek Art From South Italy and Sicily > Exhibition Highlights > Silenus Antefix (about 470-460 BC)
 
 
Silenus Antefix (about 470-460 BC)
Gela, Via Apollo, acropolis at Molino di Pietro
Terracotta, well-refined red clay with inclusions of mica and anthracite, thick and homogeneous light brown slip, mold-made, hand-finished, painted
Museo Archeologico Regionale di Gela, inv. 8294
[Cat. no. 63]

Silenus Antefix (about 470-460 BC)

This antefix depicts the face of a Sileus, an aged satyr, an often drunken follower of the god of wine, Dionysos. It is one of the most famous and best preserved from Gela and indeed in all of Magna Graecia. His lionine mane, balding pate, bulbous nose and cheeks, piercing eyes, and grimacing mouth full of teeth combine to make a face only a mother could love and one that would certainly ward off evil.

Page 12 of 23 | On the next page: Gorgon Tablet (about 610-590 BC)